Pours a dark brown, off white head forms and fades. Aroma of nutty, toasted malt, sweet dark fruits and doughy bread. In the flavor, raisen, fig, toasted almond and caramel. Smooth on the palate and the alcohol is only barely noticeable. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, clean enough finish and semi dry at that. Overall, a very solid quad with great traditional flavor. Without a doubt this is one worth revisiting.

Smell - Dark fruits, some malt, chocolate and spices, not alot of smell.

Taste - Very dark roasted malt flavor. Not as many flavors and spices as most quads ive had. A little pepper and chocolate notes in the aftertaste. I get some licorice and dark fruits like plum and rasin. Very surprized how different this quad is compaired to standard quads.

Mouthfeel - Medium thickness and rather light on palette. No way id guess this was 11% or even a quad. Aftertaste is weak and not long lasting at all.

Overall - This is solid, but not a top of the list quad. It almost comes closer to a strong ale then a quad. The dark fruits, roasted malts, it would be hard to guess this as a quad. Pretty good but there are a few other quads that smoke this beer. If you are looking for a different twist on the style, this would be a nice sample.

T: Pepper and cinnamon up front, transitioning to some dark fruits in the middle and ending with a little spice. Some chocolate notes and also some vinous flavors enter as the beer warms. The flavor is pretty dry overall, almost a stout quality. Towards the end of the glass, some subtle bubblegum joins in.

M: Medium-heavy mouthfeel with considerable creaminess that keeps it buoyant and a lot of smoothness as well.

O: A pretty good beer. Not my favorite example of the style, mostly held back by the dryness of the flavor. But, really not bad, definitely worth a try.

poured out a good frothy head that disapated slowly leaving moderate lacing. the aroma of roasted malts and dark fruit dominate the nose.Peronally I like this one altough my preference leans toward strong blonds and tripels but this could change my mind on that. alcohol well hidden not overly sweet high carbonation definitely worth a try ,I bought a second bottle after to cellar .

Live review. Poured from the corked and caged 1 pint, 9.4 oz bottle that I bought at World Wines & Liquor in Mentor a few weeks ago into my Brewery Ommegang gold rimmed Westvleteren style goblet. I do not recall the price. Sorry about that! I do not see any indication of the “best by” date or even the “bottled on” date but I am not sure that it matters. Update: After I removed the cork I found that the cork had the following printed on it: 2.010 I am going to guess that it is the bottling “year” so with the 11% ABV I am absolutely fine here.

A Medium brown head over a dark brown body that glows a deep mahogany in front of direct light. I like the look of this quad. 4.5

S Dark roast malt without a great amount of sweetness in the smell. It is a rather distant smell. This should be interesting… 3.5

T The dark roast malt is there as well as the typical “De Halve Mann” grainy malt nature along with the stgrong Belgian yeast notes. As suggested by the smell this is a rather distant taste. It took repeated sips to determine my tasting notes due to the distance of the taste. There is certainly an earthy, grainy, organic sense to the taste of this beer. Some may appreciate that but I do not. 2.5

M As suggested by the notes on the taste, the feel is too dry. I enjoy quads with a nice syrupy thickness to them. 2.0

D/O Actually less than fair since the ABV is 11% and the taste and feel leave me wanting more. 2.0

Notes: It kills me to record this rather low rating to a beer from one of my sentimental favorite breweries, De Halve Mann. I visited there June 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the beers that I had sampled that day. I would recommend touring there anytime. I happen to think that their barley malt is too grainly and their yeast profile is too strong. This beer certainly did nothing to change that opinion.

Pours a deep, dark brown with frothy khaki head, looking like a traditional Quad. Nose is very bready and yeasty. Smells like freshly baked baguettes and caramels. Palate is structured and firm, a little booze slips through as heat. Not overly sweet, but flavors of milk chocolate and caramel dominate. Doesn't have the "classic" Quad fruitiness.

I rather like this brew as it's quite unique. If you're expecting the big dark fruit and leather thing that you get from Gouden Carolus or La Trappe's dark brews, you will be surprised. Gets big points for a unique interpretation of the "Quad."

Pours a deep amber to brown-ish in color with a tan head. In the aroma, sweet alcohol, nutty, and some dark fruit. In the taste, sweet nuttiness, alcohol, and a mixture of raisin and figs. A smooth and medium bodied mouthfeel, with and dry dark fruitiness, especially raisin in the aftertaste. Dry and nutty, with a nice presence of dark fruit.

S - The nose seems quite nice - but also quite different than most Quad/BSDA. There is a sort of woody-medicinal sharpness that seems like brettanomyces, but I don't think it actually is. Pale and pils malt seem evident, as does candi sugar and aged hops. Fruity notes of apple, pear, apricot, plum and banana are present, but not in the way one would generally expect.

T - The taste is not quite there; I wasn't sure how this was going to go down, given the unusual specificities of the aroma, but it is a letdown overall. The alcohol is way too strong here; its as if someone poured vodka into a Grimbergen or Corsendonk brown. As for the nuances, there is some medium and dark fruity notes (not enough), and a lot of pale malt minerality. This would make for a decent Tripel/BSPA, save for the color; as a Quad or BSDA, it is lacking the richness, complexity and decadence necessary.

M - Bad. Champagne-esque carbonation; prickly and somewhat thin.

O - As referenced earlier, this beer tastes, smells and feels like a Tripel. Way off the mark for the style, and not great regardless of style consideration.

I bought this new Quad at Dranken Geers in Gent when i was there two weeks ago. The woman behind the counter advised me to try this one out.

I must say that this is a good quad, not the best there is, Westy 12, Pannepot, Amatus and Rochefort 10 are (much) better but hey, with those beers we talk about worldbest beers.

Poured the beer i my small Wesyvleteren tasting glass. The beer looks absolutely great. A very darkbrown/deepdarkred fluid with a very decent two finger lightbrown head which stays for quit a while. The is lots of carbonation going on in the glass.

The sweet smell of candisugar comes in the nose.

Taste is good but the carbonation is a bit too much in the mouth (and i like carbination!) it feels like a small carbonationexplosion in the mouth.

The alcolhol is well hidden and overall i have to say that this one is a very drinkable quad. I would like to see how this beer is when you age it a few years, it can only get better.

Quad, relatively new product from this brewery.
Colour brown, with beige head. Big head, a lot of carbonation in the clear(!) drink.
Smell of caramel, dark fruits, some floral components, some alcohol too.
Taste is full malty, sweet. Dark fruit, caramel, koriander.
Medium to full body. lingering taste. In many ways it reminds of Rochefort 10. It's just not as chewy and complex.
It's a good drinkable beer. the 11% is not a big problem. It's covered well enough.